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Thursday, October 23, 2008

The GOP's Remaining Strategy: Voter Suppression

Paul Weyrich, the Conservative activist and pundit, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation think tank, said something back in 1980 that needs to be seen to understand why the McCain campaign strategy at the end may very well be all about ways to suppress the vote.

Mr. Weyrich currently serves as chairman and CEO of The Free Congress Foundation.

Before looking at the video, read a passage that Weyrich wrote this week, for The Bulletin of Philadelphia. In an article that looks at John McCain's dimming chances to gain the presidency, Mr. Weyrich notes that because Obama has such superior ground forces in place in many states, McCain may be "out of luck." He adds:

We know that, left to their own devices, many voters will skip voting just because they are preoccupied and no one reminded them or, in cases of the elderly, drove them to the polls.

Weyrich instinctively knows that his worldview is not the majority position, which is why he views ground forces as so important to fire up the base.

Now, check out the video below.

What Weyrich said in that video needs to be circulated:

Elections are not won by the majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now.

As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up, as the voting populace goes down.

The Republicans don't want you to vote. They know that if everybody who wants to go to the polls does, they lose.

On one hand, Weyrich knows that it's important to galvanize your core. But, at the same time, he knows you might sneak a victory by dampening the enthusiasm (and doing whatever it takes to lower the turnout) of your opponent's supporters.

Please vote, and help others to do the same, on November 4th. If you have the opportunity to vote early, please do, and encourage others to follow your lead.

The only strategy the right-wing has remaining is to suppress the voter turnout. Robocalls now, a shortage of machines the first Tuesday in November in heavily Democratic districts?